I don't know exactly why I never get around to posting new discoveries and cool stuff here -- it's not like I don't make the discoveries or try the cool things -- but I haven't been here to post for (obviously) a long time.
Anyway, I'm still around. Maybe I'll do one of those New Year's Resolutions to be a more dedicated and consistent blogger!! It's a thought! :-)
In the meantime......Happy Holidays to One And All! We're about to start 2014 believe it or not!!!
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Post Post-Workshop Thoughts -- iPad Workshop -- EdTechTeacher.org -- Hauser Hall/Harvard -- July 8-10, 2013
Since I tend to be one who ruminates about things a bit -- some who know me would probably say that I spend WAY too much time in a state of rumination -- I've continued to reflect on my experience at the tablet conference. To repeat, it was a great experience and I am extremely glad I went and grateful to my school for making it possible for me to be there.
Something I keep coming back to is the pedagogical rationale for all the talk among educators about the (some would say) radical changes happening in our schools where technology "revolutionizes" the classroom and the subjects we teach. Some of the terms one hears include:
In my school, many of the above are oft-discussed, weighed, and touted as necessary components of our classrooms and curricula. I have heard myself bringing up for discussion plenty of the topics in this list and I would argue that many of my fellow educators reflect and talk about the above with total sincerity.
Okay, so what's the big deal?
Probably nothing or ??????. But what keeps popping backing into my head is the physical layout of the classroom at Harvard where this tablet workshop was held. Four or five rows of student seats behind stationary tables in half-circles that descend from the last row of student seats to the first. And what do we find "down in front"? A chalkboard (or projector screen) and podium. This is clearly where the professor "stands and delivers" (which was the case for our presenters at the workshop, as well). The room did not offer any sort of the physical flexibility that I noticed. It seemed like a totally traditional classroom that had "teacher-centric" written all over it.
And, on the couple days when we had to vacate the classroom we were using because a Harvard class was coming in, the Harvard class was totally run in that professor "stand and deliver" mode.
This I find quite interesting.
Why?
In think back on all the discussion we've had in my school about transforming the classroom, 21st century skills, critical thinking, etc., we talk as if these changes are revolutionzing education. But, to the extent my school is a "prep" school preparing our kids for college (and explicitly for colleges like Harvard), it makes me wonder if were are doing our job to prepare them for the educational experience they will actually be having in those colleges they go to.
Just wondering. No solid conclusions on my part. No empirical studies. I probably should ask some of our grads and see what their feedback would be.......but I do seriously reflect on what I REALLY should be doing to prepare my Middle Schoolers for their best educational future. It is endlessly fascinating!!!!
Something I keep coming back to is the pedagogical rationale for all the talk among educators about the (some would say) radical changes happening in our schools where technology "revolutionizes" the classroom and the subjects we teach. Some of the terms one hears include:
- workflow
- flipping the classroom
- video, video, video
- digital literacy
- digital citizenship
- information society
- information management
- critical thinking
- collaboration
- 21st century competencies
- programming
- and so on
In my school, many of the above are oft-discussed, weighed, and touted as necessary components of our classrooms and curricula. I have heard myself bringing up for discussion plenty of the topics in this list and I would argue that many of my fellow educators reflect and talk about the above with total sincerity.
Okay, so what's the big deal?
Probably nothing or ??????. But what keeps popping backing into my head is the physical layout of the classroom at Harvard where this tablet workshop was held. Four or five rows of student seats behind stationary tables in half-circles that descend from the last row of student seats to the first. And what do we find "down in front"? A chalkboard (or projector screen) and podium. This is clearly where the professor "stands and delivers" (which was the case for our presenters at the workshop, as well). The room did not offer any sort of the physical flexibility that I noticed. It seemed like a totally traditional classroom that had "teacher-centric" written all over it.
And, on the couple days when we had to vacate the classroom we were using because a Harvard class was coming in, the Harvard class was totally run in that professor "stand and deliver" mode.
This I find quite interesting.
Why?
In think back on all the discussion we've had in my school about transforming the classroom, 21st century skills, critical thinking, etc., we talk as if these changes are revolutionzing education. But, to the extent my school is a "prep" school preparing our kids for college (and explicitly for colleges like Harvard), it makes me wonder if were are doing our job to prepare them for the educational experience they will actually be having in those colleges they go to.
Just wondering. No solid conclusions on my part. No empirical studies. I probably should ask some of our grads and see what their feedback would be.......but I do seriously reflect on what I REALLY should be doing to prepare my Middle Schoolers for their best educational future. It is endlessly fascinating!!!!
Post-workshop Thoughts -- iPad Workshop -- EdTechTeacher.org -- Hauser Hall/Harvard -- July 8-10, 2013
So, dear reader, it’s been a week since I left
the iPad Workshop organized and sponsored by EdTechTeacher.org and held in
Hauser Hall on the campus of Harvard University. It seems that a few words of reflection might
be in order.
First, I tip my hat (figuratively, of course) to
the two EdTechTeacher trainers that were running the workshop: Samantha Morra and Carl Hooker
For three days I sat in awe of Sam’s total
command of all the things she talked and demo’d, along with her highly
professional style whenever she was “up there in front” while always maintaining her extremely
supportive, non-egotistical, mega-friendly personality. Carl also had a “command of the facts” and
was a very supportive presence always there to help out the 30 or so of us in
the room.
Great as the in-class experience was, the
question I need to revisit is the one I posed in my post prior to the start of
the workshop: What specific methodologies,
techniques, skills brought to students, and apps did I learn about and
experience during these three days spent in Cambridge? What makes a tablet a “killer device” that
transforms – or at least enhances – student learning?
Were I forced to answers those question, I’d have
to voice a (to me) surprising degree of uncertainty as to the answers. To cut to the chase, my conclusion, so far,
is that a tablet is a very cool piece of hardware – and there is an amazing and
impressive wealth of apps available for them – but it is not a game-changer.
Do I love the fact that these tablets are instant
on/off? Yes. Do I love how light and portable they are? Absolutely.
Do I enjoy the ways you access and manipulate the screen (swiping,
tapping, drawing with a finger or stylus)?
You bet. Do I think kids would
love using these things? Totally. Do I find that a tablet can make it easier for people to collaborate? Yup.
Did the workshop teach me how kids, by using a
tablet can perform research projects in ways that are superior to a
laptop? Well, yes, in some ways. A built-in camera can grab a shot or video of
my frog dissection to which I can add an audio narration and then submit to my
teacher. I don’t think a traditional
on-paper lab report comes close to showing my teacher how much I know about
frog physiology let alone how to properly perform a dissection. And a laptop often has a camera these days
but is not nearly as portable and easy to manipulate as a tablet. Tablet is way superior to a laptop if multimedia, in-class experiences (and off-campus -- documenting finding my frog in a nearby swamp) need to be captured.
But what about producing a major research and
writing assignment about 19th century United States presidents? Or completing my short story for English?
The goal I keep repeating to my students when it
comes to “data entry” to their computer is that I challenge them to be able to
type in their ideas as fast as they can think.
This may be possible with a tablet’s on-screen keyboard but I have not
seen empirical evidence that this is possible.
In the type of school where I teach, there is
enough emphasis on writing and large-scale research projects, for example, that I’m unable to totally buy a
tablet is the answer.
If kids could have two devices – a tablet and a
laptop – that would be ideal. Probably
4-5 years from now people may take it for granted to have both devices at hand
or the hardware may morph into devices that are as light and easy to use as
tablets but make it possible for the productivity efficiencies that are more
native with today’s laptop. Nothing
stays still with technology. Change is
the way it’s always going to be. It will
be fascinating to see how this all plays out.
To get back to the workshop, it was absolutely a
valuable experience for me. The breadth
of available apps that have to potential for big payoffs in the classroom and
curriculum was amazing. In fact, much of
our time was spent on exploring these apps which was rewarding. I’ve got many hours left of exploring them
yet left to do. Just look again at that table I included on Day 1. What an impressive list!!
But I also have a lot of
reflecting to do about keeping the focus on student learning and curricular
development and improvement.
But that’s what’s so fun about this line of
work: there’s never a dull moment!!!
P.S. If anyone actually reads this and can help me broaden my perceptions and learn ways I have not yet discovered about the advantages/capabilities of tablets in the classroom, please let me know. I am absolutely, positively a life-long learner!!
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
iPad Workshop -- Day 3 -- EdTechTeacher.org -- Hauser Hall/Harvard -- July 10, 2013
Well, Day 3 has arrived. In most ways, these sessions have breezed by and now we're at the final session of this workshop. Kinda difficult to believe.....
The list of "apps on tap" for today include:
We started out spending some time hearing about how to project an iPad on a computer. Most time was spent on Reflector which is an app that you install on both your computer (which apparently includes both Mac & Windows) and on the iPad you want to project. More information about that available at:
http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/
Reflector is not the only option but, at $12.99, it is a relatively low-cost option for making it possible for a tablet to be mirrored on a screen
A .pdf of some instructions put together by EdTechTeacher can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-zMx78MK6cFNld2ZzZsSTBkVzQ/edit
Another option for "mirroring" an iPad is AirServer which appears to cost $14.99
http://www.airserver.com/
A further option with perhaps the most limitations/iffy would be to use Bluetooth
Then we spent a chunk of time watching the movie "trailers" that people made yesterday at the end of the day using iMovie. Some pretty effective, not to mention entertaining and clever, videos were created in really a very few minutes by folks in the workshop using the Trailer tool in iMovie. And iMovie makes it pretty nearly a breeze to do. Easy to get sold on an app with such ease in putting together some video.
It would have been interesting, though, to create something more open-ended using iMovie rather than the trailers. Those trailer templates are very well-designed and organized. Again, they are a lot of fun, but I'm not sure the "trailer" approach would be that helpful with a video project in a classroom that has depth to it. But, there's a lot to say for having fun making a project!!
Staying with the video topic, we briefly weighed the use of YouTube as an option to upload class videos, particularly uploading and saving videos in one of the private modes that keep student work inaccessible to those who have no business watching them and yet available to all who should be able to see it. Having this option is reassuring but pointing students to YouTube even with private URLs still begs the question of whether it is wise -- certainly with kids in elementary and middle school -- should be nosing around YouTube. A number of schools represented by the workshop participants to not allow YouTube access by students at school.
In terms of some other options, reference was made to Vimeo and iTunes U although, a bit surprisingly to me, not SchoolTube.
Today's app expedition and share impressions included the following:
- Aurasma
- 30 Hands
- Haiku Deck
- Popplet Lite
- Nearpod
- Spreaker DJ
- TouchApp Creator
- Trading Cards
- Videolicious
The results of the group sharing of impressions of these apps is available here.
The final project of the workshop was next up on our agenda. And our task.....
Use Book Creator to create a ePub of your experiences,
notes, resources, etc from the past 3 days
Use the agenda and Today’s Meet to guide you.
This was also a time when Sam and Carl circulated around the room answering some individual questions that people had about what we've explored since Monday.
Near the end of the day, Carl called our attention to a couple videos that speak to starting a movement and doing something to bring attention to an important cause. Here were two examples of the power of video not to mention the power of the energy, creativity, and commitment our kids can bring to all of our lives.
Derek Sivers shows us how movements get started. He shows video of the start of a movement all of which happens in less than 3 minutes. Check it out.
Next came a very powerful video that was spearheaded by two kids with the help of an interested adult who had the means to create a song and record it. This is a wonderful example of what our students can do not to mention the importance of putting kids in charge of projects that meets their passion. In this case, the idea was to create something to counter bullying and finding ways to help those who are the victims of mistreatment.
Called "Lend a Hand", it is a YouTube video that was quite amazing to watch. You can watch it here.
It was a great way to bring this workshop to a close and I'm grateful to both our facilitators for the great experience that was this iPad Classroom Workshop.
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
iPad Workshop -- Day 2 -- EdTechTeacher.org -- Hauser Hall/Harvard -- July 9, 2013
Day 2 began with a look at another site that offers teachers the ability to poll/quiz/test students.
InfuseLearning.com -- an online (free) resource for getting student responses, somewhat more flexible/useful than Socrative (including being able to download quick response items from kids) which you can't do with Socrative. Also class rosters can be imported.
Another difference is that one form of answer can be a drawing.
Next we spent some time working with a "digital paper" app called Notability. Notability Intro and Challenge by Sam available here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gTiX6nZtpTweJJ6Sy_ssY0TYuG9W6493em5CK0kc6kk/edit#slide=id.p
We moved on to doing more image capture/screen capture and got some practice using a free avatar creator called Tellegami to narrate a pretend vacation with the appropriate image. Examples of how to capture those images used both Maps (in iOS 6) and Google Earth.
(Psssst........Wordle and Tagxedo and ABCYA.com got mention here for word clouds, of course, but also avatar creation.)
Another app we got practice using is called Book Creator.
In the time before lunch, the presentation moved to Digital Citizenship and Copyright. A great deal of importance was attached to "empathy" including the teaching of this concept in our classes. In fact, Sam classified empathy as the 21st century skill and called the presentation she shared with us: Empathy: The 21st Century Skill
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LvVFNlolBLJWA-CsdTCLwdOfbgPsMKPlvVvV5HAgV7o/edit#slide=id.p
We looked at Common Sense Media and their tools for Education and then Creative Commons. We were especially encouraged to -- if so moved -- license things we create using Creative Commons licences with the main goal of sharing.
Final thing before lunch was a look at Subtext and what it offers for reading, including free books and monitoring reading by students.
We moved on to some options for accessing a "whiteboard" on a tablet. Focus was on EduCreations, ScreenChomp, and Skitch. They even asked us to do a comparison (a Whiteboard app "smackdown") the results of which are here
Next app we visited was Explain Everything. The presentation shared with us is available at:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pRsew-wYcCjyXbkFtgZWEXqMtX6WIbVXs187HCK-nRc/edit#slide=id.p
Here's a video available on Vimeo that gives an intro to Explain Everying
Explain Everything 2.0 from MorrisCooke on Vimeo.
There is a lot of explore in the things listed above. It was truly exciting to be introduced to such a wide variety of tools that seem to have the potential to offer teachers (and students) so much that will enhance teaching and learning. Already, though, the thought keeps bubbling up......when will I possibly have time explore all these great things!!!!????
Next we moved on to a discussion of digital storytelling and to audio recording and video editing. Garageband was the focus of our audio segment and iMovie for the video.
Some EdTechTeacher slides about iMovie are available here.
The final challenge of the day was to create a movie "trailer" using one of the built-in trailer templates that iMovie offers (many are very cool!) and go out of the classroom around the building -- whatever -- and add video recorded on the iPad or digital stills taken on the iPad to use in the trailer. Fun!
Difficult to believe Day 2 is already over but looking forward to Day 3!
Monday, July 08, 2013
iPad Workshop -- Day 1 -- EdTechTeacher.org -- Hauser Hall/Harvard -- July 8, 2013
The iPad Classroom workshop began today at 8:30 a.m. in Hauser Hall on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, MA. I did not have 100% of my wits about me and spent way too much time trying to figure out where Hauser Hall is. May have been in the EdTech materials but I didn't have them with me and there was not a Harvard campus overview map ("You Are Here") to be found. Thanks to a few kind Harvard-ites, I eventually found my way.
The EdTechTeacher.org presenters are:
Samantha Morra sam@edtechteacher.org, @sammorra, Thoughts on Education
Carl Hooker carl@edtechteacher.org, @mrhooker, Hooked on Innovation
This list of the EdTechTeacher Summer Workshops 2013 is available here: http://edtechteacher.org/index.php/summer-workshops/sw2013
The website for my specific workshop is at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pi71XZJ8nmyIujNteOynbCwgJJ3-cxN505ACaFu3q2w/pub
After round-the-room introductions, Sam and Carl had us do a quick look at Padlet -- http://padlet.com/
where you can create a virtual "wall" that kids can post to by name or anonymously (but cautioned mightily about the anonymous possibility)
and
TodaysMeet -- http://todaysmeet.com/
TodaysMeet sets up a dialog for anyone who knows the URL to the discussion. It's kind of like a private, members only Twitter feed that you can set up and only have the people you want participating. One was set up for our workshop but since they only last something like two weeks and then (poof) are gone, I can't include a link here. However, TodaysMeet does make it possible to produce a .pdf of the TodaysMeet discussion and I have a copy of the comments & resources shared.
Our facilitators had us take a "Getting to Know You" Google Doc survey (form)
Then it was a turn at setting the focus for the whole workshop with the following framework models and EdTechTeacher articles:
Next, Sam covered the basics of the iPad hardware and its basic use with a Google Docs presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1szATI2Nvh86a1xzaMKMMOxme2HVKRds0Jq_gLfuYlB8/edit#slide=id.p
She did a good job of covering those topics and even (at least for me) shared some tips that were totally new to me!
There's also a video introduction by EdTechTeacher at Vimeo:
iPad Basics from EdTechTeacher on Vimeo.
From this point on, we began an exploration of a variety of apps that can help fulfill the curricular concepts noted in the introduction. Rather than comment on each (at least for now), I'm going to let the list of what we explored speak for itself unless I feel I really have to add a word or two.
Some discussion of the SAMR hierarchy (also above) which was part of the framework discussion. SAMR & the Schneiderman version (below) are both worth much thought as how to incorporate into curricular design:
SAMR
Schneiderman
In terms of apps, the workshop appears to be primed to cover a great many. The table below is a snapshot of the apps slated to be covered starting today through Wednesday.
From here on we explored a series of apps that are tools that can be used with an iPad to fulfill the curricular goals that we discussed earlier today. This list is pretty much up there in the table (above). Maybe because it's the first day, but, in any case, the standouts from today include:
Evernote -- information gathering and organizing tool
Chirp -- an audio version of the qr code
Socrative -- teacher and student versions -- creating quizzes both "on the fly" and scored-and-stored
ThingLink -- creating "rich" images....images with links and other content that enhance and enrich the images you share
'Twas a full day. Looking forward to Day 2.
The EdTechTeacher.org presenters are:
Samantha Morra sam@edtechteacher.org, @sammorra, Thoughts on Education
Carl Hooker carl@edtechteacher.org, @mrhooker, Hooked on Innovation
This list of the EdTechTeacher Summer Workshops 2013 is available here: http://edtechteacher.org/index.php/summer-workshops/sw2013
The website for my specific workshop is at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pi71XZJ8nmyIujNteOynbCwgJJ3-cxN505ACaFu3q2w/pub
After round-the-room introductions, Sam and Carl had us do a quick look at Padlet -- http://padlet.com/
where you can create a virtual "wall" that kids can post to by name or anonymously (but cautioned mightily about the anonymous possibility)
and
TodaysMeet -- http://todaysmeet.com/
TodaysMeet sets up a dialog for anyone who knows the URL to the discussion. It's kind of like a private, members only Twitter feed that you can set up and only have the people you want participating. One was set up for our workshop but since they only last something like two weeks and then (poof) are gone, I can't include a link here. However, TodaysMeet does make it possible to produce a .pdf of the TodaysMeet discussion and I have a copy of the comments & resources shared.
Our facilitators had us take a "Getting to Know You" Google Doc survey (form)
Then it was a turn at setting the focus for the whole workshop with the following framework models and EdTechTeacher articles:
Next, Sam covered the basics of the iPad hardware and its basic use with a Google Docs presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1szATI2Nvh86a1xzaMKMMOxme2HVKRds0Jq_gLfuYlB8/edit#slide=id.p
She did a good job of covering those topics and even (at least for me) shared some tips that were totally new to me!
There's also a video introduction by EdTechTeacher at Vimeo:
iPad Basics from EdTechTeacher on Vimeo.
From this point on, we began an exploration of a variety of apps that can help fulfill the curricular concepts noted in the introduction. Rather than comment on each (at least for now), I'm going to let the list of what we explored speak for itself unless I feel I really have to add a word or two.
Some discussion of the SAMR hierarchy (also above) which was part of the framework discussion. SAMR & the Schneiderman version (below) are both worth much thought as how to incorporate into curricular design:
SAMR
Schneiderman
In terms of apps, the workshop appears to be primed to cover a great many. The table below is a snapshot of the apps slated to be covered starting today through Wednesday.
From here on we explored a series of apps that are tools that can be used with an iPad to fulfill the curricular goals that we discussed earlier today. This list is pretty much up there in the table (above). Maybe because it's the first day, but, in any case, the standouts from today include:
Evernote -- information gathering and organizing tool
Chirp -- an audio version of the qr code
Socrative -- teacher and student versions -- creating quizzes both "on the fly" and scored-and-stored
ThingLink -- creating "rich" images....images with links and other content that enhance and enrich the images you share
'Twas a full day. Looking forward to Day 2.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Upcoming iPad Workshop -- EdTechTeacher -- Thoughts Looking Forward to Tomorrow
Today I'm winging my way from Seattle to the other end of the United States. In Boston, I plan to attend an iPad Workshop put on by EdTechTeacher.org which starts tomorrow and continues through Wednesday, July 10. The location of the sessions will be in Hauser Hall on the Harvard University campus. Each day starts at 8:30 a.m. and continues on through 3:30 in the afternoon.
Even though we don't use iPads at my school, the thinking behind attending a workshop where the focus is on "The iPad Classroom" (the workshop's actual title) is that learning more about how the iPad tablet can be and is used in classrooms will have applicability in the use of other tablets (i.e. Samsung Galaxy [Android] or Surface RT/Pro [Windows 8]) in the classrooms where I work. The thinking here is that it's not literally so much the specific apps that are used but rather how a device like a tablet can offer kids tools not otherwise available and enhance what I hear referred to as "workflow".
What I'll be looking for, then, is the ways in which using a device such as a tablet offers specific ways to enhance learning for kids in the classroom. Not that this is necessarily a contest between tablets and laptops to prove one is the superior to the other. But, in my school where there is an existing 1-to-1 laptop program that begins in grade 7, this is a chance to begin to discovery whether or not a tablet device can materially add to the curriculum we offer to our 5th and 6th graders.
From this vantage point, the prospects are for a fascinating -- and rewarding -- time.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Three Cheers For Eccentricity!
Today I'm experiencing a bout of randomness. In that spirit I offer a site that itself offers more than a few dollops of randomness: Eccentric America.
If you have a few random moments, click here to take a look!
If you have a few random moments, click here to take a look!
Friday, March 16, 2012
NCCE 2012 -- Day 4 -- Seattle
Soup to Nuts: Teaching with Cloud Resources
Presenters: Cindy Etherton
Although we haven't made any specific moves in the direction of moving our students to the "cloud" in a systematic way, the day for "cloud computing" for school-aged kids seems pretty much upon us. Cindy offered a number of ideas that I will continue to explore and experiment with. It goes without saying but say it I will.......nothing in educational technology is so certain as rapid change! Never a dull moment!
Presenters: Cindy Etherton
Although we haven't made any specific moves in the direction of moving our students to the "cloud" in a systematic way, the day for "cloud computing" for school-aged kids seems pretty much upon us. Cindy offered a number of ideas that I will continue to explore and experiment with. It goes without saying but say it I will.......nothing in educational technology is so certain as rapid change! Never a dull moment!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
NCCE 2012 -- Day 3 -- Seattle
Google Apps: The Whole Kit and Caboodle
Presenters: Marc Elliott, Director of Information Services; Tanya Narramore, Instructional Technology TOSA; Mike Sheldon, Manager of Information Systems; all from Bethel Public Schools
The story of this workshop was the story of Bethel's migration from a FirstClass system of tools to Google Apps. By the end of the session, one could be pretty much sold on the superiority of what Google offers and the wisdom of leaving commercial services behind.
Opening Keynote -- Taylor Mali -- Poet
I'd have to confess to expending hardly a moment taking a look at who Taylor Mali was before it was time for his keynote. I did take note of the name but little else. Then when he was being introduced and he was described as a "poet" I did a mental double-take. A what? Wait a minute, am I at NCCE? Is there some regional poetry slam going on at the WSCC right now and I wandered in the wrong keynote session?
Nope. It turns it that 1) Taylor Mali *is* a poet and, 2) he was the keynote speaker at NCCE 2012. It took a little while as he read some poems and did his opening shtick but it wasn't really that long before it became clear that Mr. Mali was not a very conventional poet and, furthermore, many of his poems were very entertaining and more than a few were quite thought-provoking. He is a very effective performer, too.
In addition to his focus on poetry, he is also a dedicated advocate for learning and teaching. He currently has a project to inspire 1000 people to make a commitment to become a teacher. He is very close to reaching his goal and, actually, seems to have scheduled the fulfillment of this goal this coming April 7 (at which point he will cut off 11" of his hair [aka ponytail] and donate it to someone.....I forget who).
Like I say, many of his poems are very appealing. Below you'll find a video version of his poem "What Teachers Make" from YouTube.
Best Web 2.0 for Online Learning
Presenter: Katie Kotynski
A fairly straight-forward presentation that showcased a number of online resources that are useful in the classroom. Katie anchored her presentation around her website called BestWebForEd Wiki site.
Integrate Computational Thinking Skills Using Scratch
Presenter: Phil Big
The focus of this sessions was Scratch and Computational Thinking, just as the title suggests. The main point was the set of four problem-solving skills/techniques that, it can be argued, our students need to be 21st century literate. These skills include: 1) decomposition; 2) pattern recognition; 3) pattern generalization & abstraction; and 4) algorithm design.
Phil's contention is -- and it seems quite plausible -- that Scratch is a great vehicle to give students practice in developing, using, and refining those four skills.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
NCCE 2012 -- Day 2 -- Seattle
Google Sketchup in the Classroom -- Part 1
Presenter -- Regina Cain
Google Sketchup in the Classroom -- Part 2
Presenter -- Regina Cain
These were long-form workshops (3 hours each; lasted all day with lunch break) taking a look at Google Sketchup. Using a tutorial document from Google, Regina took us through step-by-step the various tools that Sketchup offers.
The non-pro version of Sketchup is free to all; the $400+ Pro version is available to teachers who go through an approval process in which they establish their bona fides as classroom teachers.
As a 3D design tool, Sketchup is indeed amazing. Even I was able to create a couple structures -- including a fairly decent-looking schoolhouse with row upon row of windows, trees circling, and a bit of picket fence, too. My doghouse was fairly decorative as doghouses go but I wasn't as proud of it as the schoolhouse I worked on in the latter stages of the workshop.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
NCCE 2012 -- Day 1 -- Seattle
Kodu: Learn How to Excite Middle School Girls to Game Programming
Presenter: Brad Gibson/Senior Program Manager
Microsoft Research FUSE Labs
This evening workshop was a great way to start my 2012 NCCE experience. Kodu is a programming option I had never heard of. The presenters, which included a panel of middle-school aged young women from two schools, made a fairly convincing case that Kodu is a must-consider option when one is weighing various options for teaching programming and the principles of computer science.
As valid as Scratch and LOGO are as options for giving students, especially middle-school aged kids, experience in this realm of computer science, the 3D and narrative possibilities offered by Kodu are difficult to resist.
Microsoft Research FUSE Labs
This evening workshop was a great way to start my 2012 NCCE experience. Kodu is a programming option I had never heard of. The presenters, which included a panel of middle-school aged young women from two schools, made a fairly convincing case that Kodu is a must-consider option when one is weighing various options for teaching programming and the principles of computer science.
As valid as Scratch and LOGO are as options for giving students, especially middle-school aged kids, experience in this realm of computer science, the 3D and narrative possibilities offered by Kodu are difficult to resist.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Not to worry....I'm still around!
Guess what? I'm still here! Yes, I know that my most recent post is from eons ago but -- what can I say? -- I've been busy.
What's on my mind, you ask? Well, I'm intrigued with a new (to me) service/site called Eyejot. I haven't used it yet to communicate with my students but it sure makes it simple to post a quick webcam video and almost instantly send it out via e-mail to whomever on a subject of interest or import. No dedicate client or app necessary on the recipient's end. Video is housed by Eyejot and the vid is viewed in the browser. Seems both cool & something with potential in the vidworld we live in.
What's on my mind, you ask? Well, I'm intrigued with a new (to me) service/site called Eyejot. I haven't used it yet to communicate with my students but it sure makes it simple to post a quick webcam video and almost instantly send it out via e-mail to whomever on a subject of interest or import. No dedicate client or app necessary on the recipient's end. Video is housed by Eyejot and the vid is viewed in the browser. Seems both cool & something with potential in the vidworld we live in.
Friday, March 05, 2010
NCCE 2010 - Seattle -- Day 4
First session was called "Beyond Cool.....Does It Work????". Presenter was Dan Matthews who is Instructional Technology Coordinator in Yakima. There was also a video feed by Dr. Janet Spybrook, a professor at Central Washington University. This was an instance of a workshop title giving an impression (to me) not borne out by the content. I looked at this title and thought, "One of the challenges in adopting technology, especially as we explore new tools and make decisions about curricular integration, is to not be seduced by the 'Wow! Factor' that is often near-irresistible when new things come along, especially if they're accompanied by hype. I know I'm as prone to fall for the hype as anyone. This session looked like it would offer some guidance on gaining a kind of healthy skepticism about the ingredients to look for in the "new" or hyped stuff so you waste less time falling for the now-it's-here-now-it's-gone.
Although there was an element of this incorporated by Mr. Matthews & Dr. Spybrook, the upshot of their presentation was really quite a bit more focused on mathematical analysis of databases measuring how various tools (like interactive white boards, for instance) are used. Not really useless information but quite a bit more narrowly focused and database-analysis-heavy for what I was looking for.
The next session boded well. I've attended previous presentations by Patrick Crispen at other conferences and he didn't disappoint then. He didn't disappoint today either. He presented on the subject: "A Random Walk through Cyberspace: Patrick Crispen’s Completely Updated Collection of Truly Useful–and Not So Useful—Websites and Web 2.0 Tools" In this hour he took us through a variety of helpful (and also fun & entertaining) sites ranging from a site that will give you your upload/download speeds of your Internet connection you're using to Instant Chan (try it, if you dare!!!!). It was well worth the 60 minutes we spent with Mr. Crispen. Now it was time to grab a quick lunch.
Partly because of how effective this session was, I decided to go ahead and return to another session of Mr. C's, this one called: "The State of the Craft: What’s New—and What’s Next—in Ed Tech, Consumer Electronics, and More". From his standpoint, the following are things "out there" that have the potential to be game-changers: solid state drives, electronic ink, liquid crystal displays, the iPad (or the Microsoft Courier, an upcoming eReader/tablet hardware combo), 4G networks, portable devices that are always on with very fast connections, voice control of devices, "hardware agnostic" clickers (polleverywhere.com), augmented reality (e.g. GE's "Plug Into the SmartGrid"), and personal learning networks (PLNs), among others. His main point was that the way in which we interact with computers will fundamentally change....perhaps sooner than we think. And, to my frustration, he did not give us a rock-solid answer to this question....which I would LOVE TO KNOW!!! That question is: How do you keep up with it all?????
The final part of my Friday I spent jotting down some notes from the previous three days and then taking my first look through the vendor exhibits. I took a fairly leisurely stroll through the many booths there although I can't say any particular product jumped out at me and said, "I'm the next cool [and useful!] thing! Buy me!!"
While I would have to admit having come away from NCCE 2010 with few things I could characterize as "seismic", attending these four days of NCCE 2010 a most worthwhile four days of exploration, finding new things, and looking ahead. Without wanting to sound immodest, I got some satisfaction noting the number of tools I've incorporated into my teaching that are still being touted as having true value in the world of 21st century teaching and learning. Just to rattle off a few of those things mentioned in these past few days: Ning, Wordle, SchoolTube, Photoshop.com, Glogster, Scrapblog, Google Docs, Audacity, TED....... A little affirmation is good, too. :-)
I appreciate the support from the school that made my attendance at NCCE 2010 possible.
Although there was an element of this incorporated by Mr. Matthews & Dr. Spybrook, the upshot of their presentation was really quite a bit more focused on mathematical analysis of databases measuring how various tools (like interactive white boards, for instance) are used. Not really useless information but quite a bit more narrowly focused and database-analysis-heavy for what I was looking for.
The next session boded well. I've attended previous presentations by Patrick Crispen at other conferences and he didn't disappoint then. He didn't disappoint today either. He presented on the subject: "A Random Walk through Cyberspace: Patrick Crispen’s Completely Updated Collection of Truly Useful–and Not So Useful—Websites and Web 2.0 Tools" In this hour he took us through a variety of helpful (and also fun & entertaining) sites ranging from a site that will give you your upload/download speeds of your Internet connection you're using to Instant Chan (try it, if you dare!!!!). It was well worth the 60 minutes we spent with Mr. Crispen. Now it was time to grab a quick lunch.
Partly because of how effective this session was, I decided to go ahead and return to another session of Mr. C's, this one called: "The State of the Craft: What’s New—and What’s Next—in Ed Tech, Consumer Electronics, and More". From his standpoint, the following are things "out there" that have the potential to be game-changers: solid state drives, electronic ink, liquid crystal displays, the iPad (or the Microsoft Courier, an upcoming eReader/tablet hardware combo), 4G networks, portable devices that are always on with very fast connections, voice control of devices, "hardware agnostic" clickers (polleverywhere.com), augmented reality (e.g. GE's "Plug Into the SmartGrid"), and personal learning networks (PLNs), among others. His main point was that the way in which we interact with computers will fundamentally change....perhaps sooner than we think. And, to my frustration, he did not give us a rock-solid answer to this question....which I would LOVE TO KNOW!!! That question is: How do you keep up with it all?????
The final part of my Friday I spent jotting down some notes from the previous three days and then taking my first look through the vendor exhibits. I took a fairly leisurely stroll through the many booths there although I can't say any particular product jumped out at me and said, "I'm the next cool [and useful!] thing! Buy me!!"
While I would have to admit having come away from NCCE 2010 with few things I could characterize as "seismic", attending these four days of NCCE 2010 a most worthwhile four days of exploration, finding new things, and looking ahead. Without wanting to sound immodest, I got some satisfaction noting the number of tools I've incorporated into my teaching that are still being touted as having true value in the world of 21st century teaching and learning. Just to rattle off a few of those things mentioned in these past few days: Ning, Wordle, SchoolTube, Photoshop.com, Glogster, Scrapblog, Google Docs, Audacity, TED....... A little affirmation is good, too. :-)
I appreciate the support from the school that made my attendance at NCCE 2010 possible.
NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 3
Session I -- Your Personal Magic Shop: 50 Ways to Use Discovery Education Streaming
The scheduled presenter was Hall Davidson but he apparently had to leave on a red-eye last night and Lindsay Hopkins, another Discovery Education Educator was there in his place.
She did the best she could to pinch hit for Hall. Discovery Education does indeed appear to be filled with a great deal of content with a big chunk of it coming (no surprise here) from the Discovery Channel and Network. Video, songs (450 "educational songs", .mp3 format, fully editable), sound effects (a ton), and images (over 20,000).
She also went on to talk about some non-Discovery sites such as Wordle and Blabberize among others.
Next came the keynote talk by Philippe Cousteau. Once again, a connection here is with Discovery Education. Philippe Cousteau. I believe his actual "position" with Discovery is: Animal Planet Chief Ocean Correspondent. It may go without saying that Mr. Cousteau is very charismatic and an extremely effective speaker. With his oceanic "calling card" it will also come as no surprise that his talk had an environmental focus with a great emphasis on how everything is so inter-connected. He clearly looked at all of us in the room and said that it's our responsibility to bring a strong awareness of the environment and the global responsibility to shepherd our Earth's future wisely. Another point he drove home is how everything we do is a choice, whether asking for "paper or plastic" at the supermarket or taking public transit instead of the car. I am not doing his talk justice here but I'll just reiterate that Mr. Cousteau was a terrific speaker and his talk was very well received.
(By the way, remembering that the theme of this year's NCCE was "Capture the Magic of Teaching and Learning", the warm-up act prior to Mr. Cousteau's keynote was an appearance by an honest-to-goodness magician. Unfortunately I've forgotten his name but he was very good!)
After lunch, I had my second three-hour workshop. The presenter was Jeff Miller. His topic was "Right-clicks, Tips & Tricks for Office 2007". I would have to admit being somewhat skeptical -- going into it -- that there could possibly be that many clicks/tricks/tips to occupy that much time. But, although there were a few "dry" spots, the number of things he showed us was 1) quite numerous, 2) appeared to offer many advantages of greater speed & efficiency, and 3) some were kinda amazing, as in "you can do *that* with a keyboard combo or right-click?" Jeff also provided a level of documentation that was both thorough and easy to understand and navigate. Plus he provided both a printed and electronic versions of all materials. He made it clear that these materials could freely be shared (with attribution, of course). Way too many tips/tricks to list here, but it was definitely worth the time.
The scheduled presenter was Hall Davidson but he apparently had to leave on a red-eye last night and Lindsay Hopkins, another Discovery Education Educator was there in his place.
She did the best she could to pinch hit for Hall. Discovery Education does indeed appear to be filled with a great deal of content with a big chunk of it coming (no surprise here) from the Discovery Channel and Network. Video, songs (450 "educational songs", .mp3 format, fully editable), sound effects (a ton), and images (over 20,000).
She also went on to talk about some non-Discovery sites such as Wordle and Blabberize among others.
Next came the keynote talk by Philippe Cousteau. Once again, a connection here is with Discovery Education. Philippe Cousteau. I believe his actual "position" with Discovery is: Animal Planet Chief Ocean Correspondent. It may go without saying that Mr. Cousteau is very charismatic and an extremely effective speaker. With his oceanic "calling card" it will also come as no surprise that his talk had an environmental focus with a great emphasis on how everything is so inter-connected. He clearly looked at all of us in the room and said that it's our responsibility to bring a strong awareness of the environment and the global responsibility to shepherd our Earth's future wisely. Another point he drove home is how everything we do is a choice, whether asking for "paper or plastic" at the supermarket or taking public transit instead of the car. I am not doing his talk justice here but I'll just reiterate that Mr. Cousteau was a terrific speaker and his talk was very well received.
(By the way, remembering that the theme of this year's NCCE was "Capture the Magic of Teaching and Learning", the warm-up act prior to Mr. Cousteau's keynote was an appearance by an honest-to-goodness magician. Unfortunately I've forgotten his name but he was very good!)
After lunch, I had my second three-hour workshop. The presenter was Jeff Miller. His topic was "Right-clicks, Tips & Tricks for Office 2007". I would have to admit being somewhat skeptical -- going into it -- that there could possibly be that many clicks/tricks/tips to occupy that much time. But, although there were a few "dry" spots, the number of things he showed us was 1) quite numerous, 2) appeared to offer many advantages of greater speed & efficiency, and 3) some were kinda amazing, as in "you can do *that* with a keyboard combo or right-click?" Jeff also provided a level of documentation that was both thorough and easy to understand and navigate. Plus he provided both a printed and electronic versions of all materials. He made it clear that these materials could freely be shared (with attribution, of course). Way too many tips/tricks to list here, but it was definitely worth the time.
NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 2
The main activity today was a gathering of IT and Administrators. The featured speaker was Hall Davidson. I've seen/heard Mr. Davidson once before and looked forward to this session. I was not disappointed. He remains the dynamic speaker I remember and he shared with us much information that was food for thought.
One aspect of his work more emphasized this time around than before is his connection with Discovery Education. He is one of the Discovery Educators on the Discovery Education Team. Given that Hall has this connection with Discovery Education and the biases that may go along with that connection, a number of the resources he showed us were, indeed, quite impressive. One outgrowth, therefore, of hearing his talk is my intention to delve more deeply into what Discovery Education may be able to offer my students and colleagues.
In no particular order, some of the other tools or ideas he touched on included:
1)iTunes University -- a resource used by a growing number of schools & university to post/offer coursework for students around the globe
2) The 3M Young Scientists Challenge
3) Polleverywhere.com -- giving and taking polls using your cellphone/smartphone to text answers......giving those in the "clicker" business something to have nightmares about!
4) Google Translate -- this service is getting better and better -- it's still free -- and the selection of languages keep growing, too.
5) Google Voice -- another free Google service changing the way we manage our phones and phone numbers
6) UStream.tv -- judging from the response from others in the room, I need to look into this one!
7) Discovery Education -- their home page......also something to delve into in the near future
8) Edmodo -- for teachers interested in a tool like Twitter but want a tool with more educational focus
9) .....and others
One of his pronouncements that he (I think) intentionally wanted to voice and see our reaction was regarding cellphones. He briefly recounted how most schools ban or tightly control their use at school. His advice: Let Them In! Have kids take polls using them. Have kids watch videos using them. Have kids surf the Web using them.
And -- no surprise here -- Hall invited us all to........follow him on Twitter!!! :-)
Following the presentation, we were able to roam around the room and hear mini-presenations about open source resources, check out the Amazon Kindle eReader, creating your own personal learning network, and a table with some netbooks and iTouch to try out (I brought my own iTouch).
One aspect of his work more emphasized this time around than before is his connection with Discovery Education. He is one of the Discovery Educators on the Discovery Education Team. Given that Hall has this connection with Discovery Education and the biases that may go along with that connection, a number of the resources he showed us were, indeed, quite impressive. One outgrowth, therefore, of hearing his talk is my intention to delve more deeply into what Discovery Education may be able to offer my students and colleagues.
In no particular order, some of the other tools or ideas he touched on included:
1)iTunes University -- a resource used by a growing number of schools & university to post/offer coursework for students around the globe
2) The 3M Young Scientists Challenge
3) Polleverywhere.com -- giving and taking polls using your cellphone/smartphone to text answers......giving those in the "clicker" business something to have nightmares about!
4) Google Translate -- this service is getting better and better -- it's still free -- and the selection of languages keep growing, too.
5) Google Voice -- another free Google service changing the way we manage our phones and phone numbers
6) UStream.tv -- judging from the response from others in the room, I need to look into this one!
7) Discovery Education -- their home page......also something to delve into in the near future
8) Edmodo -- for teachers interested in a tool like Twitter but want a tool with more educational focus
9) .....and others
One of his pronouncements that he (I think) intentionally wanted to voice and see our reaction was regarding cellphones. He briefly recounted how most schools ban or tightly control their use at school. His advice: Let Them In! Have kids take polls using them. Have kids watch videos using them. Have kids surf the Web using them.
And -- no surprise here -- Hall invited us all to........follow him on Twitter!!! :-)
Following the presentation, we were able to roam around the room and hear mini-presenations about open source resources, check out the Amazon Kindle eReader, creating your own personal learning network, and a table with some netbooks and iTouch to try out (I brought my own iTouch).
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 1
I have attended other, though not all, past NCCE Conventions. Although this event has some of the "crowd" feeling that most of these large professional gatherings, I've come away from a number of previous NCCE gatherings feeling that the time spent was quite worthwhile. I hope that will be the case again in 2010.
Today's NCCE activity was a 3-hour workshop called: Photoshop.com -- Online Photo Editing. Trainer/Facilitator was Joe Dockery. The focus of this workshop was to showcase what image-editing tools & resources are available through this free online website (http://www.photoshop.com). Aside from the very big advantage of this resource being free (offers 2GB of storage with the free account: more storage capacity can be purchased), a big huge plus to editing using Photoshop.com is that everyone accesses it via a browser. Therefore it doesn't matter what operating system you're using. You have online access & a browser? You're in! There is even an app available for the iPhone/iTouch and the Android phone.
This OS-independent factor is a significant "deal maker" in my situation where I have students with Windows laptops and others with Mac laptops. Finding software at a reasonable price (or, better, free) which is dual-platform is doable but often has other complications. Not so with Photoshop.com. The interface you work with on a Windows machine is exactly the same as on a Mac. This is GREAT!
Joe is an effective trainer and this was a rewarding session. As it happens, after signing up for Joe's workshop some weeks back, I came to the image-editing unit in my Laptop Prep class. Since having read about his session made me aware of Photoshop.com's existence, I went ahead and tried many of its features before NCCE came along. I chose to create a separate Photoshop.com site for each of my five sections and the site worked beautifully for the type of image-editing exercises we needed to do.
For the primary editing assignment, I supplied a wide variety of images (about 240) and uploaded them to each section's Photoshop.com site. After editing an original image, each student saved their own version. They assembled an album of all their edited pictures which we embedded as slideshows at our Laptop Prep Ning site (http://lmsprep0910.ning.com; you must join to access).
Is Photoshop.com a replacement for Photoshop? Or even Photoshop Elements? Not really. But it offers a lot for certain kinds of digital image projects. It worked out great for me and my kids!
Today's NCCE activity was a 3-hour workshop called: Photoshop.com -- Online Photo Editing. Trainer/Facilitator was Joe Dockery. The focus of this workshop was to showcase what image-editing tools & resources are available through this free online website (http://www.photoshop.com). Aside from the very big advantage of this resource being free (offers 2GB of storage with the free account: more storage capacity can be purchased), a big huge plus to editing using Photoshop.com is that everyone accesses it via a browser. Therefore it doesn't matter what operating system you're using. You have online access & a browser? You're in! There is even an app available for the iPhone/iTouch and the Android phone.
This OS-independent factor is a significant "deal maker" in my situation where I have students with Windows laptops and others with Mac laptops. Finding software at a reasonable price (or, better, free) which is dual-platform is doable but often has other complications. Not so with Photoshop.com. The interface you work with on a Windows machine is exactly the same as on a Mac. This is GREAT!
Joe is an effective trainer and this was a rewarding session. As it happens, after signing up for Joe's workshop some weeks back, I came to the image-editing unit in my Laptop Prep class. Since having read about his session made me aware of Photoshop.com's existence, I went ahead and tried many of its features before NCCE came along. I chose to create a separate Photoshop.com site for each of my five sections and the site worked beautifully for the type of image-editing exercises we needed to do.
For the primary editing assignment, I supplied a wide variety of images (about 240) and uploaded them to each section's Photoshop.com site. After editing an original image, each student saved their own version. They assembled an album of all their edited pictures which we embedded as slideshows at our Laptop Prep Ning site (http://lmsprep0910.ning.com; you must join to access).
Is Photoshop.com a replacement for Photoshop? Or even Photoshop Elements? Not really. But it offers a lot for certain kinds of digital image projects. It worked out great for me and my kids!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
2010 Is Right Around The Corner
No great insight, there, I would agree. Still, the new year is just about upon us. As so many will say (and really mean), 2009 has sped by.
Here's to a great 2010!
Best Wishes to All!
Here's to a great 2010!
Best Wishes to All!
Friday, August 07, 2009
We Chose The Moon
Last month many of us marked the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's successful mission to the moon which included, of course, the first humans to step off onto its surface. On cable and network TV, not to mention newspapers (online and in print), there were many stories marking this achievement.
One site that I've found especially fascinating -- with its combination of high quality graphics and animation plus archival video and pictures from the mission and the training that preceded it -- is We Choose The Moon.
One unusual aspect of this site is that the entire mission is available, stage by stage. In other words, you can re-live this amazing mission in real time. Or you can start at any of the 11 stages of the mission.
And to think lift-off was back on July 16, 1969. Incredible!
One site that I've found especially fascinating -- with its combination of high quality graphics and animation plus archival video and pictures from the mission and the training that preceded it -- is We Choose The Moon.
One unusual aspect of this site is that the entire mission is available, stage by stage. In other words, you can re-live this amazing mission in real time. Or you can start at any of the 11 stages of the mission.
And to think lift-off was back on July 16, 1969. Incredible!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
PNAIS 2009 TechShare Conference -- Day Three
Session 1 -- Educator Track
Structuring an Online Conversation: The Why Not?
Presenter: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School)
The focal point of Richard’s presentation was the video Skype conversation he showed us (on video) of an instructive and powerful online conversation between students in his classrooms at Catlin Gabel and a group of students in the Gaza Strip.
Watching and listening to these young people grapple with other cultures and listen to each other with such patience and effort to understand the unfamiliar or to revise previous assumptions about others, was, in itself, inspiring. It was a very good demonstration of the power inherent in some online tools in truly bringing us together as a global community.
Final Session -- Educator Track
Building Projects Around Common Goals & Lesson Plan Development
Presenters: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School) and Jimi Robinson (Evergreen School)
Richard and Jimi challenged us to take a topic in our groups at each table (there were five tables) and, in this small group, come up with a plan and strategy for bringing that topic to our students or into a curriculum we were involved in. The subject that arose at our table was ways of using video in the classroom and tools that make video accessible and useful, ranging from which cameras to use to methods of distributing/sharing student video projects (i.e. SchoolTube, TeacherTube).
As the final session of the conference, there was also some time spent on thank yous and farewells.
.....and adieu
As I found in my previous participation in TechShare conferences, my time at the 2009 version was well-spent. I’m grateful that PNAIS offers this kind of professional development opportunity. One difference for me at this conference was the fact that I was one of the presenters. I’m glad that the presentation that Lillian and I did was pretty well-received. It was a very useful exercise and I learned a great deal in putting together the presentation and actually making the presentation in front of these TechShare colleagues.
I’m glad to have had the opportunity to attend this conference and I appreciate the support the school has given to make this possible.
Structuring an Online Conversation: The Why Not?
Presenter: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School)
The focal point of Richard’s presentation was the video Skype conversation he showed us (on video) of an instructive and powerful online conversation between students in his classrooms at Catlin Gabel and a group of students in the Gaza Strip.
Watching and listening to these young people grapple with other cultures and listen to each other with such patience and effort to understand the unfamiliar or to revise previous assumptions about others, was, in itself, inspiring. It was a very good demonstration of the power inherent in some online tools in truly bringing us together as a global community.
Final Session -- Educator Track
Building Projects Around Common Goals & Lesson Plan Development
Presenters: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School) and Jimi Robinson (Evergreen School)
Richard and Jimi challenged us to take a topic in our groups at each table (there were five tables) and, in this small group, come up with a plan and strategy for bringing that topic to our students or into a curriculum we were involved in. The subject that arose at our table was ways of using video in the classroom and tools that make video accessible and useful, ranging from which cameras to use to methods of distributing/sharing student video projects (i.e. SchoolTube, TeacherTube).
As the final session of the conference, there was also some time spent on thank yous and farewells.
.....and adieu
As I found in my previous participation in TechShare conferences, my time at the 2009 version was well-spent. I’m grateful that PNAIS offers this kind of professional development opportunity. One difference for me at this conference was the fact that I was one of the presenters. I’m glad that the presentation that Lillian and I did was pretty well-received. It was a very useful exercise and I learned a great deal in putting together the presentation and actually making the presentation in front of these TechShare colleagues.
I’m glad to have had the opportunity to attend this conference and I appreciate the support the school has given to make this possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
